If fibroids are not causing any trouble, it is quite possible that they will never do so. If there are symptoms, they may well get worse, and the fibroids may enlarge, until the menopause. Then fibroids stop growing or even shrink and the symptoms will go away. If fibroids start to grow rapidly or become painful you should see your doctor.
Once you have been diagnosed with fibroids, your doctor will discuss with you the various fibroid tumor treatments available. These fibroid treatments range from "watchful waiting" to pharmaceutical therapy for fibroids that may have recently been diagnosed or may have some associated symptoms, but do not interfere with daily living. However, many patients may require additional fibroid treatment options to manage more severe symptoms. Your physician may advise you of minimally invasive, uterus-sparing therapy, such as UFE, to surgical interventions, such as hysterectomy and myomectomy. It is important to be sure to discuss all of these fibroid treatment options with your physician to see what is the best option for you.
If your fibroids do not cause symptoms, there is no need to treat them. Your doctor may want to watch them and monitor for any fibroid growth at each of your annual examinations. Some women may have fibroids, but not experience symptoms. If you begin to experience, of have been experiencing, some or many of the symptoms of fibroids previously indicated, there are several other fibroid treatment options that may be available to you. These include drug therapies; minimally invasive non-surgical options; and surgical options. Your doctor should discuss all the alternatives with you based on your condition.
Fibroids are benign tumors that very rarely become cancer. As many as 30% of all women have at least 1 fibroid. Thus, we only treat women for fibroids if they have a specific problem due to these growths. Such problems include excessive or irregular menstrual bleeding, infertility, recurrent miscarriage, preterm labor, malpresentation of a fetus during pregnancy, constipation or pelvic pain. If you do not suffer from any of these problems, or if they are not severe enough for you to seek treatment, then observation and regular checkups may be all you need to do. Since these fibroids grow in response to hormones secreted from the ovaries, once you reach menopause, and your ovaries are no longer functional, the fibroids usually shrink on their own.